DRAWING BOARD – March 2013

Small houses need a really smart floor plan and lots of light and air. This 1,000-square-foot 1950s ranch house has neither. The new design by Carol De Tine of Carriage House Studio Architects in Portland replaces the classic ranch house’s low-pitch roof with a steep gable roof. At the center of the redesigned house is what the owners are calling their “mini great room” for its open plan and cathedral ceiling. Skylights on the east side bring in morning light. On the west side, where skylights would cause overheating from the afternoon sun, dormers shaded by the woods across the road are a better choice. The skylights and the windows in the dormers are all operable, providing natural ventilation in the summer.

The house is in a coastal neighborhood and currently enjoys an ocean view from one back corner. The new plan places a dining area with a built-in banquette in that corner and adds a dormer above it to capture space for a spectacular loft study/guest room. With that small addition, the house will remain a two-bedroom house and top out at 1,200 square feet.

The master suite has been relocated to the original living room space. A large dressing room is designed so that it can be repurposed as a small bedroom, with moveable wardrobes instead of closets and access directly from the entry hall. The master bedroom, like all the spaces at the back of the house, enjoys views of the gardens and the natural stone ledges and woods in the backyard.

Outside, the redesigned house has more presence than the ranch style currently provides, with a mix of modern and traditional elements—combining modern windows, weathered-gray cedar shingles, and white painted vertical-board siding with a gray standing-seam metal roof. The gray and white palette continues inside with gray-stained wood ceilings and floors and white walls and cabinetry. The consistency in materials and colors will help this small house feel spacious.

Location: Southern Maine
Architect: Carriage House Studio Architects
Builder: TBD
Construction start: Spring 2013

CARRIAGE HOUSE STUDIO ARCHITECTS: CARRIAGEHOUSESTUDIO.COM, 207-318-0731